Stop # 9: Power to the People
How do I become a sustainability superhero?
For as long as I can remember, superheroes have been one of my biggest passions, and still, at twenty years of age, you can find me almost daily in a new MARVEL superhero T-shirt or article of clothing. Despite my love of the supernatural, I believe that my main passion for this subject stems from the idea that human beings can change the world. Although many superheroes have supernatural abilities, they have decided to use this power for good: to serve and protect their fellow citizens and inspire thousands of people to remain hopeful for a better tomorrow. In essence, this is part of the reason that I wanted to pursue a career in education. I wanted to become part of something larger and to inspire young kids to pursue their dreams by reaching for new and exciting goals. I wanted to instill hope in a new generation of learners and serve those who may not be able to help themselves. As all of my bloggers know by now, science is one of my greatest passions in life, as it promotes a sense of questioning and wonder within our students unparalleled by many other facets of academia. Among other things, science helps to teach students how to be philosophers, explorers, researchers, and independent thinkers. Outside of that, it helps children understand that it is okay to question what you know and pursue the things with which you are currently unfamiliar. In essence, it brings wonder back into the classroom, which is something that I feel has been missing for far too long. Last summer I had the opportunity to discover the sustainable development goals as part of Mount Saint Mary's SURE program where I was tasked with educating today's youth regarding the importance of sustainable living. As a science major, I decided to educate Bishop Dunn students on more scientific sustainability concepts like water purification and plastic classification. This experience was phenomenal, and as the summer drew to a close, I was dishearted to think that I would no longer be able to educate Bishop Dunn Students on the importance of sustainable living...or so I thought.
As the new academic school year ushered in feelings of great excitement and promise, I remember being overjoyed to learn that Dr. Smirnova would be my SS Methods teacher in the Spring. She had been my role model for so long and I felt incredibly blessed to have the opportunity to learn from someone that I found so incredibly knowledgable and compassionate. On the first day of class, Dr. Smirnova had everyone log onto Zoom and we began discussing the fieldwork component of our SS Methods class in a little bit more detail than what was presented on the syllabus. As she spoke, I could not believe my ears! I remember wanting to jump up from my seat and dance around because this class would allow me to continue by sustainability initiative at BDMS, but from a brand new perspective. However, in order to effectively educate others on these concepts from a more Social-Studies centered perspective, I knew that I had to return to the source of my research from so many months ago... the United Nation's Sustainability Goals.
To give you some necessary backstory on this fabulous initiative, it is important to first understand why this incentive is so important, and beyond that, such a massive undertaking. For those that are unfamiliar, the United Nations serves as an international organization founded in the year 1945. It is currently made up of about 193 member states all around the world. In 2015, this organization developed a concept known as the Sustainable Development Goals which serve as a universal call to action for citizens all around the world. These goals were generated with the intention to end poverty, protect the planet, and improve the lives of everyone, everywhere. The seventeen sustainable development goals pictured in the image above, despite being generated in 2015, serve as part of the larger 2030 agenda for sustainable development. This gives us fifteen years to change the world. Despite the fact that progress is being made in many places today, overall action to meet these goals is not yet advancing at the speed or scale required to successfully achieve our aspirations for 2030. With this idea in mind, 2020 needs to usher in a decade of ambitious action if we hope to successfully meet our 2030 agenda. In fact, the UN secretary-general, António Guterres has recently called on all sectors of society to mobilize for a decade of action on three levels: global action, local action, and personal action. Through our own educational journey, it is our hope to take target those lower levels of this mobilization plan. First, we hope to become knowledgeable on the sustainable development goals and select one to focus on in order to teach our students to become more informed and active global citizens. Secondly, we hope to transform the Bishop Dunn community into a sustainable community by inspiring families to make a change. In order to learn more about the sustainability goals, the initiative selected for this year's fieldwork experience and a personal project that I created to show students how easy it is to take action and make a difference click on each of the images, showcased below.
Click on this image to be inspired to join the UN's call to action!
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| Interact with this hyperdoc to learn more about my plans for a better tomorrow! |
So with all of this information in mind, I must inquire...did you know that your actions could change the future of the world? If so, then what will be your sustainability superpower, and how will you make a difference? Remember, the world is counting on you!
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